It’s almost time for another week of NBA 2K League action, and you know what that means: power rankings. In an attempt to make everyone angry sort through what should be a competitive season, we’ll be ranking each team based on a number of factors: results, quality of play, strength of schedule and so on. Results aren’t everything, otherwise we’d just copy and paste the league standings into here.
These are a composite ranking of our three writers’ own rankings, aggregated into one. Let’s get to it.
21. Pistons GT, (0-1 regular season record, 0-3 overall record), last week: 20
The addition of New Zealand’s finest Jaacko could be the shot in the arm the Pistons need, but he has his work cut out for him if he’s to be the one to take this woeful offense to the next level.
20. Grizz Gaming, (0-1, 0-3), LW: 18
Somehow didn’t get blown out despite scoring four (4) points in the first quarter of their game against the Mavs. The offense looks just as stale as last season’s.
19. Knicks Gaming, (0-1, 1-2), LW: 17
Looked uncompetitive against the Heat nearly from the start. iamadamthe1st is having another inauspicious start to his season, mirroring his performance at this stage a year ago.
18. Wizards District Gaming, (0-1, 1-2), LW: 15
A lineup change didn’t do much for the Wizards, and it’s probably best if Dayfri sticks to center. Demon JT needs to step up for this team to have any chance of postseason play.
17. Jazz Gaming, (0-1, 1-2), LW: 14
One of the worst halves of NBA 2K League basketball we’ve seen with a 15-point second half against Pacers Gaming. Ria has looked the part of a first-overall pick so far, but Yeah I Compete probably needs to take charge more in the scoring department.
16. Kings Guard Gaming, (1-1, 1-3), LW: 19
Signs of life with a win over struggling Wizards District Gaming. BP came into his own with 24 and 25-point performances last week, a promising sign. The defense still needs a lot of work against stronger teams, though.
15. Lakers Gaming, (0-1, 1-2), LW: 16
The Vert point guard experiment continues to be… well, something. The Lakers may not have found their best lineup yet. On the bright side, rookie shooting guard Kev has so far been one of the best sharpshooters in the entire league.
14. Raptors Uprising GC, (0-2, 1-4), LW: 8
A tough week for Canada. The team ditched its double lockdown defender setup but still couldn’t muster up anything resembling a decent offense in two losses. The time is now for Doza to start playing like a first-round point guard.
13. Hawks Talon GC, (1-0, 1-2), LW: 21
A big win over TIPOFF runners-up Celtics Crossover Gaming. The team may have found its optimal setup with Rando at point guard and DevGoss manning the small forward. Needless to say people should be a lot more confident in this team than they were just a couple weeks ago.
12. Blazer5 Gaming, (0-1, 1-2), LW: 9
A wild game against season-two Cinderellas Bucks Gaming may have exposed an ineffective defense in Portland. Mama Im Dat Man and OneWildWalnut look poised for big seasons again, but the rest of the pieces have to fall in place.
11. Mavs GG, (1-0, 2-1), LW: 11
The word “embarrassing” could be used to describe how the Mavs only eked out a one-point win despite holding the Grizz to just four points in the first quarter. But they all count just the same, fortunately for Dallas. It still needs to figure out how to effectively use all of its offensive weapons.
10. Magic Gaming, (0-2, 3-3), LW: 4
A rough week with two losses by a combined five points. But Reizey’s big performances in both games should give the Magic plenty of hope for its remaining games.
9. Celtics Crossover Gaming, (0-1, 4-2), LW: 3
Another unimpressive offensive performance with most of the scoring coming from two players. Bad news: one of those, oFab, is suspended for the team’s game against juggernaut 76ers Gaming in week three. Not great!
8. Nets GC, (2-0, 3-1), LW: 13
Two solid wins last Friday. Wavy had two efficient shooting games while the team posted balanced scoring efforts. That’s exactly how this team wants to play.
7. T-Wolves Gaming, (1-1, 3-2), LW: 5
Rebounded from a big loss at the hands of Bucks Gaming to take care of business against the Lakers. The team’s slow adjustment to move its lockdown defender to shooting guard may have hurt big time in its first game. The good news is that BearDaBeast is doing BearDaBeast things.
6. Cavs Legion GC, (1-0, 2-2), LW: 10
A good win over Magic Gaming. The Cavs’ 3 through 5 positions will be the key to its success this season, and a 47-point effort from those three in week one bodes well.
5. Warriors Gaming Squad, (1-0, 2-1), LW: 7
It took a while for this team to get going against a weaker Pistons side, but the emergence of BSmoove as a much more important piece in the offense will help the Warriors a lot when CB13 has four-point nights like he did last week.
4. Bucks Gaming, (2-0, 3-2), LW: 12
The Bucks? The Bucks! Handled T-Wolves Gaming and won the game of the year (game of…forever?) against Blazer5 Gaming. ARooks’ position switch, a move he orchestrated himself, looks to be a masterstroke. Don’t forget about the suffocating defense, either.
3. Pacers Gaming, (1-0, 3-1), LW: 6
The 80-42 demolition of Jazz Gaming was the quintessential Pacers Gaming performance. Swizurk went for 30, Ramo stuffed the stat sheet and nearly scored 20, WoLF locked down the other team and Lord Beezus and Matty chipped in what was necessary. One of the best teams in the league when all goes to plan like that.
2. Heat Check Gaming, (1-0, 3-2), LW: 3
A comfortable revenge win over Knicks Gaming. JMoney already looks comfortable, which is a dangerous sign for the rest of the league. Hotshot looks to be his usual MVP candidate self. Add in a much more potent MaJes7ic and boy do the Heat look good.
1. 76ers GC, (1-0, 6-0), LW: 1
Everything looks easy for this team right now. They took care of business against the Raptors and now have a bye week to work on their game and study their opponents. Go ahead and pencil them in for number one next week, as well.
